Disc Golf Video Review: Tom Monroe’s Disc Golf 101
This is a video review of Disc Golf 101 by Tom Monroe
My father recently got the disc golf bug. He's already out-spent me in disc purchases, has bought a practice basket, is signing up for minis and plays the Perfect Putt game with me over the Internet (we send each other scores, he's winning...). He also bought four videos, watched them, loaned them to me, and I'm going to review them.
I'm hoping Dad will chime in here, at least in the comments, to give his "starter" perspective. I'm an experienced player, though not excellent. My current rating is 873 but I think I will hit 900 this year because I'm spending a lot of time practicing. We'll see. That's my background.
"Disc Golf 101" by Tom Monroe isn't as good as Climo & Feldberg's Disc Golf Fundamentals. I think that rank beginners should avoid this video at first and I feel it's best for experienced players who want to teach others and know our sports' jargon well. I find myself fantasizing about being a disc golf Coach at some point, and so this video hit home with me in that way. I think it would be great for coaches.
I liked the humor in the video, and the opening montage was fun to watch. There was a lot of good advice, stuff an intermediate might not know. For example, if you haven't ever mastered a forehand throw, your odds will be much better after watching this instructional video.
DG 101 is 51 minutes long and packed with explanations about all of the shots; nothing was left out. The picture quality is good and it is well edited. However, it is not put together consistently; Tom touches on shots in seeming random order and goes into lengthy detail about grip or wrist placement at times. Grip and wrist placement are important, but the feeling that something might have been forgotten or mentioned more than onces makes it hard to know what is the most important thing.
Tom has trouble staying away from the jargon. This is what makes me think there was no script and it was mostly winged. Tom knows what "candy plastic" is, or a "turnover shot," and so do most of us, by what about a new beginner with no Ultimate background? Even someone who grew up with the Frisbee isn't going to know that kind of jargon. I'm not saying to not introduce people to the terms, but explain what they mean. There are several times when this wasn't done. For my first whole year, I had to write -- in Sharpie, on the disc -- what each disc was supposed to do; I couldn't understand the different stability/turnover ratings and I didn't know the difference between DX and CE plastic. If that is you, you won't learn it in this video even though several terms like that are used.
I watched it with headphones, on my computer, and the audio that wasn't a 70's rock and roll song was left-channel-only. Probably not a problem if you watch it on your TV, though.
There are a lot of distant shots -- a good camera used from a distance to a miked-up Tom in a field. In these, Tom feels the need to shout and it gets a little tiresome for the viewer. He's not overly loud, and I understand the urge -- he sees a camera a long way away (it's probably fully zoomed in), and his human nature makes him raise his voice to be heard. But it's a little distracting. I only kind-of noticed it in my one viewing, but my Dad, who watched it multiple times, brought it up as something that he certainly noticed.
I bet Tom Monroe is one of the great teachers of disc golf. I bet that I could get a weekend with him and come out a much better player, or at least a player with knowledge of how to improve. If this were the only disc golf video on the market, I would point to you to go buy it straightaway. Now, I'll rank it behind KC & DF's Fundamentals video.
Opinion: I give it 6 of 10. "Fundamentals" is that much better. But look, it's a $20 video. I spent over $100 on new discs recently, experimenting with ways to improve my game. So, why not give this video a try? I don't favor it as the best one out there, but maybe you find that one tip that brings it altogether and you shave 5 strokes off your average round...
